French minister urges faster deregulation

France's economy minister has urged his own left-wing government to do far more to liberalise the economy, arguing that President Francois Hollande's Socialists had failed to reform fast enough and bring down stubbornly high unemployment.

Speaking out at a moment when his government is focusing on security in the wake of the deadly Islamist attacks of early and late 2015, Emmanuel Macron said France was one of just a few EU countries where the jobless rate had not fallen last year.

"We should have moved with greater speed, force and daring," Macron, a former investment banker whose free-market stance irks many fellow Socialists, told Le Monde newspaper on Wednesday.

With Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls concentrating on security fears that have boosted the popularity of the far-right National Front party, Macron's comments were clearly intended as a warning to his own camp not to neglect a need for more aggressive liberalisation ahead of elections in 2017.

"We have to rise to the challenge ... now is the moment for major reform."

Macron, whose liberalisation of the bus transport sector has prompted a mushrooming of low-price travel alternatives to the country's railway network, said much more should be down to open up other sectors closed to people without specific diplomas or qualifications that were not always justified, he said.

Cutting red tape and regulation to allow people set up their own business more easily was vital, said Macron.

Citing the car sharing and taxi business Uber, which has come up against legal obstacles in France, Macron said in the interview it was "easier nowadays to find a client that an employer".